Winches are used for a wide range of applications and many different sizes and types of winches are produced. Most winches are rated as having an upper load limit. Thus, a winch may be indicated as a 10,000 pound winch in which case the various load bearing components would be designed to withstand the applied forces to enable the winch to generate at least a 10,000 pound pulling force.
The problem occurs when a user is not aware that he is attempting to pull a load that exceeds the load limit of the winch. Without some sort of shut off, the weakest of the components will break down as the first indication that the load limit has been exceeded. Not only can this be costly in repair services and shut down time, it can also be a safety hazard. Even in cases where the components of the winch are designed to far exceed its load limit rating, the damage may occur to the winch support or to the item being pulled. The operator/user may simply want assurance that the load limit is not exceeded in any event.
The present invention provides a feature that senses when an established load limit is reached. Sensing features presently exist where a factory setting establishes the load limit. However, the present invention provides the additional benefit of allowing the operator/user to adjust the load limit setting.